Stay
by kuronekolily
Summary: "Please, stay at my side." (Rated M for violence in the upcoming chapters)
1. Prologue

- Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima. I only own the story. -

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The guilds doors burst open to reveal a tall figure in a dark cloak. Blood dripped down from underneath the cloak leaving a small puddle on the ground. The noisy people of the guild, who had partied and brawled just moments ago, where quiet now. All of them looked at the person, who just came in.

The person entered the guild hall, slightly hobbling. Under his cloak he seemed to carry a small bundle. While walking he left a small trail of blood on the ground. It seemed he wanted to get to the back of the guild, the infirmary. The sky haired Dragonslayer, a small girl and skilled healer approached the figure without hesitation. She didn't bother if it was a unfamiliar person, until now. The person seemed to be injured, really bad, so she couldn't help it. She wanted to help the one. The person put up a hand clothed in a, to the guild well known, metal clad glove and pushed back the hood of his cloak. They came to see the spiky raven hair of the Iron Dragonslayer. Bruises and small cuts were shattered all over him. His crimson eyes wandered around, before he started walking again, until he saw Wendy who now rushed to his side, ready to heal his wounds the best she could.

"I'll heal you Gajeel-san." she said with a terrified look. The older dragonslayer looked awful. His nose seemed broken one of his eyes was swollen, so he seemed to have trouble keeping it open. He poured blood from a dozen places, from his face alone. She didn't want to even imagine what it looked like under the dark, and as she was able to see now, blood stained, cloak. He had stopped in his tracks, waiting for the small girl until she stood by his side. Gajeel shook his head slowly at her words. But his body, his legs in particular, gave up on him, and he collapsed on his knees. With the hand they had already seen he stopped his body to fall over. Several guild members took a stand now. The petite script mage had literally jumped to her feet. The fire dragonslayer approached the black haired man. All of them shocked by the heavy scent of blood, which hung around the guild, noticeable for all the dragonslayers, even Laxus who sat at a table at the far end of the hall. Under his knees a small puddle of blood soaked his white pants red, making Wendy worry even more. "No." the Iron Dragonslayer said, making everyone looking at him, even the bookworm, who approached them, stopped dead in her tracks. Some of them thought he said that out of pride. Others were sure he had turned completely insane now. Either way, he needed medical treatment.

Gajeel moved under his cloak, using his free hand to brush it aside some, to reveal the small bundle he held gently in his arms, unusual for the gruff and rude dragonslayer. The sky dragonslayers eyes widened in shock. In the tall mans arms, there was a small dark brown cat with a white muzzle and round ears, severally wounded, his eyes closed forcefully, grabbing Gajeels shirt lightly with one small paw in pain. His dark tail touched the ground now and he was breathing heavily. He was the cause of the blood dripping on the ground. PantherLily, the Iron Dragonslayers Partner and beloved cat. "Treat him first."

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- Reviews are welcome. -


	2. Chapter 1 - Back

- Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all of it's Characters are property of Hiro Mashima.-

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„We never screwed up like this." the Iron Dragonslayer mumbled, looking down at his Partner. Gajeel and PantherLily sat in a dungeon, located in the basement of a dark guilds hideout, locked into a small cell. Both of them equipped with Anti-Magic Shackles, even some which fitted around the cats tiny wrists.

It had been oddly quiet in there, so Lily wondered what the guild was up to by now. Since they had been imprisoned here, what seemed like days to the duo, nobody had paid them a visit, or brought them something to eat or drink. Although starving wouldn't get them in too much trouble, at least for now. At least the dragonslayer not. Because, when they were freed from those shackles Gajeel was able to eat the door if necessary. The partners had been quiet too, mostly so the raven haired mage was able to listen. Maybe he could hear something, but it proved itself rather troublesome to listen in, because they seemed to be very deep down.

Just at the moment when the Exceed opened his mouth to speak up the cell door was unlocked and opened, so he shut his mouth close and glared, alongside his partner, at the intruders. Four mages entered the already small cell. One of them had a smug smile on his lips, which made Lily slightly uncomfortable. It was like precognition.

One of the men closed the door and all of them turned in the direction of the pair of mages, eyeing the Dragon and his partner. One of them took a step forward, he was a little bit taller than the others and seemed to be the leader. He placed his hands on his hips and looked down. The raven haired dragonmage sat on the ground, his cat companion at his side. The leader towered over them and to many other people he may have looked intimidating. But looking at those two, the feared Dragonslayer – who was intimidating himself – and the small black cat, which was able to shift into a form, even taller than his partner, they had seen much worse things and looked up rather unimpressed. But still the smug smile appeared at the leaders face. "Fairy Tail Wizard." he said, addressing the Iron Dragonslayer, and his smile turned wicked. Another, smaller, mage pointed at the dark brown Exceed. For one moment nothing happened. But without a warning PantherLily was lifted up, by a levitation spell. His eyes widened in surprise. The mage lifted him up until even his tail didn't touch the ground any more. A silent "...what..?" escaped the felines lips, when he was moved towards the dark guilds mages. He kicked his legs some, but the small mage just started smirking at him.

This made the dragon react. He jumped to his feet, his red eyed dark in fury. "What do you think you're doing to my cat?!" he yelled at the men growling. He stretched out his arm, to grab his small sized partner, but the cat was already out of range. The leader of the small group took a step forward and got a hold of the angered dragonslayers arms.

"If you don't want us to hurt it, you stop right now." he said making the feared Kurogane Gajeel freeze. Of course they had to know his weak spot. The round eared feline hissed loudly, when one of the man grabbed a hold at him at the scruff of his neck, holding him like a cat. The Exceed struggled and tried to scratch the men with his claws, even managed to actually hit him. "Put me down!" he hissed. The men just tightened his grip some and shook the dark creature violently, which made him shut up. When the man stopped PantherLily was dizzy, and shook his head to get his thoughts clear again. He had faintly heard Gajeel raising his voice, yelling at them to stop. The dragons voice was full of anger. Lily knew how much his partner hated, when the cat was treated like this, all people knew. Even the dark mages. Another of them approached the Dragonslayer, both of the men held him back, using their magic to restrain him. The tall man gritted his teeth, showing his sharp fangs, a trademark of Dragonslayers. But the leader just laughed at him, chanting a small "Scary, scary. But things like this, will do your cat no good."

With this words, the small mage proceeded to shake the feline again. All of the dark mages chuckled at this sight, angering the Dragon even more.

"If you want the small cat back..." the leader said, drawing the Fairy Tail mages attention to him again and making Lilys round ears twitch at his words. "... you'll do as I say." The mans grin grew wicked again.

They used the Exceed to get Gajeel to do what they wanted. The cat liked creature gritted his teeth and saw his partner clinching his fists. How much PantherLily hated to be used as a pressurising medium. A moment of silence passed and the Iron Dragonslayer slouched. With clinched teeth he looked up shooting glares at the men. Lilys tail dropped, the tip slightly touching the ground. He had never seen his partner giving up like that, without putting up a fight.

"Very well." the leader spoke up. "You'll head back to your guild."

The Dragonslayer raised a studded eyebrow at him, eyeing him suspiciously. He didn't like the Idea. "There you'll investigate about Fairy Tails biggest secret." Gajeels eyes widened. He didn't know of a big secret, neither did the Exceed, but it wasn't considered a secret for nothing. "We want to know everything about Lumen Histoire." Both of them looked up, puzzled expressions on their faces.

"Tch." The small annoyed sound, who was heard from the dragon mage occasionally, made the leader looking at him in confusion. "What makes you think anybody would tell me of all people about this?" The leaders grin grew even wider. "Because of two things. First: We know you are trusted by Fairy Tails Master. You're secretly doing jobs for him, he doesn't entrust his other fairies with. And second: If you don't your little pet will suffer, and you don't want this to happen."

The dragonslayer shot his partner a look. He opened his mouth to agree with them on doing this when the dark cat struggled again. All of them looked at the small Exceed. "Don't do this." he yelled at his partner. "Whatever happens! Don't. Do. This." his amber eyes looked at the dragon seriously. The small mage shook PantherLily again, trying to shut him up, but this time he won't let this thing stop him. His loyality lay at Gajeel in the first place, but in Fairy Tail too. And there was no way he would allow his partner to spy on the guild, even if he had to suffer for it. Because he knew this guild hat taken care of his prince, changed the Iron Dragonslayer and even took the small cat in, when he came to Earthland. He managed to shout a last: "NO!" at his partner, before the mage released him, making him fall down. But he never reached the ground. One of the mages kicked him in his stomach, with a force he was not able to stand in his small size, sending him flying. He crashed into a wall and fell down, caughing up blood.

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Even more people approached the Iron Dragonslayer now.

Levy, the guilds small script mage rushed over, knowing what PantherLily meant to the dragonslayer. Charle and Happy, fellow Exceeds came near. Of course Makarov Fairy Tails Guild Master came over. The Strauss Siblings, Natsu – the Fire Dragonslayer and Gajeels rival - and even Jet and Droy, who detested Gajeel came over. Wendy, the sky Dragonslayer and skilled healer, was stunned for a moment. She had never seen so many injuries on one small body. "We've got to take him into the infirmary." she said, in a voice, which sounded too mature for her young age. The Iron Dragonslayer nodded silently. His head was too much focused on his partner. So he wasn't even aware of the people who looked at him in pity. It was known to everybody in the Guild how much the raven haired man adored his cat partner, who was the only one who got occasional proves of his partners affections, namely in small scratches behind his ears and kiwis, which the dragon brought every now and then. Seeing the feared man being broken like this left them stunned for a moment when he and the sky mage left the hall for the infirmary.

The infirmary was quiet. It was in the back of the guild, where the noises from the hall didn't reach the ears of the charges. The Iron Dragonslayer still left a trail of blood behind, wherever he walked. His partner had lost too much blood. Too much and he knew it. Wendy opened the door to the rather large room, they called their infirmary. It was empty, no mages were treated in there now, which was good. Wendy rushed throughout the room, gathering all kinds of things she might need. Many bandages and gauze, enough to patch up Gajeel and at least three other people, several ampullas and tins, in which, so Gajeel assumed, were various kinds of salves. Without her mentioning anything he carefully laid his pint sized partner down on one of the beds, watching out, not to hurt him even more. At first he had some problems doing this, because the Exceeds paw was still holding his shirt. But he managed to gently open the paw, so his shirt was released. His arm and both his hands were covered in blood. He wasn't able to believe, there was so much of the red fluid on him, because his partner was so tiny.

Suddenly he was pushed away, rather roughly, by the blue haired sky maiden. She placed a bowl of water on the bed and began cleaning the wounds on the small cats body. She turned the cat carefully to take a look at his back and gasped. "Bolus burns." she stated, sounding like a healer and not like the small girl she actually was. "They actually managed to burn the Guild Mark, there is no trace left of it."

None of them heard the door open. A small white Exceed came in. Charle, Wendys cat partner and fellow Exceed to PantherLily. She came in, closing the door silently, to assist her dragonslayer like she always did. But now she was stunned. She had always seen the black feline as a strong Exceed, suitable for the Iron Dragon. Both of them made a very good tag team, and they had a close bond. Seeing the Exceed, who was some kind of big brother to her and Happy, in this state, made her feel bad, vulnerable, more than she already was. Then she heard the sky dragonslayers next words: "This looks like...whiplashes?" The tall black haired man shrugged. "Who in the world would use a whip on such a small creature?" it was just a faint grumble coming from the dragonslayers lips, angry and guilty, but still very silent.

When Wendy had cleaned the majority of the injuries she saw something that bothered her. When she touched it to look at it the black cat let out a small groan, but stayed in his unconscious state. The petite dragon mage jerked back at the sound. It was so unfamiliar to all of them, even to Gajeel, who was with him all the time. The white Exceed saw Gajeel turning pale at this sound. He looked hurt. His partner had never been in such a state. Even when the dragonslayer came back, beaten to a pulp, Lily had always been fine. Which made Charle think. What could have happened to make the Exceed looking worse than his partner, what was, regarding the state the dragon was in, hard. "There are several tiny holes. Like somebody had tried to torture him with pins."

The sky mage run her hands gently along the cats body, trying not to make his injuries hurt. "Some of his ribs are broken." she stated.

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"LILY!" When the dragonslayer saw his partner crashing into the wall beside him his red eyes widened in shock. He managed to get rid of the men, which had a hold on him."Lily." He had rushed over to his partner, and friend, and squatted down, attempting to pick him up. The small cat opened his eyes, looking up at the dragonslayer. Before one of them was able to say something the small mage levitated Lily again and flung him into the wall, at the opposite side of the cell. Small cracks formed themselves around the Exceeds body, showing the brute force the mage had used, before he fell down again. PantherLily curled himself up in pain, as he felt at least one of his ribs was broken.

He hated being trapped in this small body, when he wasn't able to use magic. He liked his small body, the size was comfortable, of course, but his small body wasn't able to hold out much while in a fight, it seemed it was more fragile, than his battle form. This time the dark mages got a hold on Gajeel, restraining him from approaching his partner. He struggled in the mens grip. "Lily! Get up, Lily!" he yelled at his pint sized partner. "Damnit, Lily!" The cat gritted his teeth and moved his tail some, before he squirmed. A moment passed, and then another one until he had managed to sit up, his eyes still closed, and breathing heavily, because of a stabbing pain in his chest. The leader chuckled again.

"So, Iron Dragonslayer." he said, wanting Gajeel to turn around, but the mentioned looked at his partner, watching him, hoping he was okay. "You don't like us to torture it, do you?" the leaders voice was low, creepy and sadistically playful. Again the dragon gritted his teeth. He hated it. He hated how his cat was threatened. "We can stop it." he said, sounding like he flirted with the feared man, not giving him instructions. "If you accept to get us the informations we want." PantherLily opened his eyes again looking at his partner, his face pale, his eyes locked with the Exceed. He took a deep, aching breath and raised his deep voice again, trying to make his partner snap out of this. "Do. Not. Do. It." he said again, making the dragons eyes widen. This time, the small mage, didn't even bother to lift him from the ground. He pointed at the feline and shoved him right above the ground making him land in the cell bars. Lily groaned silently in pain and fell over. He attempted to sit up again, but his whole body shook and his arms and legs gave up on him. The impact made him cough up blood again, some of it dripping down into his muzzle, leaving a tiny puddle on the ground.

"So..?" the leader whispered.

Gajeel was able to stand physical torture, his body had a high durability, so some torture didn't really affect him. And he knew PantherLily had a similar durability, in his battle form as it is. But in his tiny Earthland form he was as vulnerable as the other Exceeds. He struggled, trying to get free, but by now three men had a grip on him, using all their strength to hold him from getting free and on a rampage, because they were well informed about the dragonslayers physical strength, he had even without using magic. When he saw his cat partner in this state it hurt, not only his pride, the feelings he had for his small partner, the deep friendship the two shared. The dragon mage brought Lily here in the first place. He had forced the feline to team up with him. And he always tried to protect him, as good as possible, by sending him away from the fight, by not telling him about the jobs he did for Makarov. And now they used his partner against him. He felt offended, because they used such a low trick, and actually got him with that. And he felt guilty, because he was the one, who wanted to do this job, getting his companion in this situation. The small cat struggled to get up again, but didn't manage to do so.

The feared Kurogane looked down at the cat, who was pathetically struggling to get on his feet, to stop him from what he was doing. But Lily just wasn't able to get up again. Gajeel gritted his teeth. "Fine." he said, averting his eyes from the small creature who lay beside the cell bars, tensing up at his words. PantherLily only whispered, but with his enhanced senses the dragonslayer was able to hear it anyway. "Don't."

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Wendy hunched over some, getting near the black cat and looked closely at some of the injuries. "Some of them look like they had been ripped up. Maybe when he tried to shift in his battle form." Charle stood there stunned for a moment but snapped out of it. She unfolded his wings and floated beside the sky dragonslayers side. The blue haired girl turned to her and said: "Please take care of Gajeel-san until I healed Lily." The white Exceed nodded and turned around to get another bowl of water. The bowl Wendy used was filled with red water now, tinted by the black Exceeds blood.

The small girl started placing gauze on PantherLilys body and then bandaged him immediately, to stop the bleeding.

Meanwhile, Charle had manged to comfort Gajeel to at least sit down in the chair besides the bed Lily was treated. She made him take off his, blood stained, cloak and started cleaning his injuries. His arms were covered with cuts and bruises. It seemed like his right arm was broken. His shirt was torn apart and a gash run along a side of his chest. But all of the injuries seemed rather skin-deep. The Iron Dragon didn't even shrug, when Charle accidentally brushed over one of his injuries roughly. His eyes seemed glued on the black Exceed.

Wendy had circled the bed and had begun to bandage the cats left arm. She held PantherLilys small paw in her hand and stroked it gently, but suddenly froze, when she felt something. Careful she placed his paw back on the bed and began touching it again, gently, but trying to feel what was wrong. Gajeels eyes had jolted in the sky dragonslayers direction. He turned his head and raised his eyebrow. Charle had given him an Ice pack to treat his swollen eye. "What?" the Iron Dragon asked scowling. Everyone knew he would never intend to scare Wendy, but with his looks he would even give grown men a run for their money. But the small mage didn't even tense up by his looks, She knew how long Gajeel had waited to get his very own Exceed, and she, too, was very fond of the kind partner the raven haired mage had, so she didn't mind the looks he gave her.

The older dragonslayer stood up to circle the bed too, when the door opened again. It revealed some people, Natsu, Happy, Master Makarov, Levy and some others who stood behind them. When Gajeel saw all the people who wanted to come in he snapped. To him it was like all of them wanted to reveal in PantherLilys pain. Although he perfectly knew, in the back of his head, they just wanted to make sure the small black cat was alright. They just wanted to check on him. At least that was what Lily always told him, when he himself was in the infirmary. "Get the fuck out!" he yelled at them in fury. Even Natsu flinched some at this outburst. It was Levy, with a gentle smile, who managed to get all the people out if the infirmary. "We can come back later." she said, understanding in her voice, when she shoved Natsu and Happy out of the room. Master Makarov looked at the Iron Dragon, who still shot glares at them. When Gajeel catched his Masters gaze he turned around attempting to look what was the case with his partners paw.

The door closed, and the four of them were alone again, although the dragonslayers were still able to hear the faint voices of the others who walked back into the guild hall. The Iron Dragonslayer sat down on the bed, PantherLily didn't use up much space, and looked into Wendys eyes. "What?" he asked again. It still sounded angry, but his voice had softened some. The small blue haired mage looked down. "Something is wrong. I can feel broken bones, but there is still something, that isn't right." she said, lifting her gaze to the dragon mage in front of her again. "I cannot explain though."

The raven haired man leaned down some and gently lifted up the small paw, which was always the one who changed his bandages, and stroked the fur. But not as gently as the girl managed to do.

Lily again groaned in pain, louder this time. He squeezed his eyes subconsciously shut and drove his claws into his partners hand. Both dragonslayers gasped at what they saw.

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- This chapter killed me. My small Lily-loving heart is ripped into pieces. D:

I'd love to get reviews. Tell me how you liked it this far. ^^ -


	3. Chapter 2 - Claws and fangs

- Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all of it's Characters are property of Hiro Mashima.-

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When the Iron dragonslayer started stroking his paw Lily groaned out, squeezing his eyes shut in pain and drove his claws in the palm of Gajeels hand. The dragon flinched from the stinging pain and wanted to say something, but stopped himself as he saw what was the case. The black Exceed was still unconscious and Gajeels finger running down his paw had this effect. The feared man, and the small sky dragonslayer both gasped in surprise. The man gritted his teeth in anger. In the palm of his hand the cat had digged three claws into his flesh. But there should be five of them.

"He lost claws." the girl stuttered, drawing the white Exceeds attention to her. Wendy freed the older dragonslayers hand from the claws and held the small black paw with a white palm in her hand. Very slowly and hesistant she run her thumb along the place where the claws were missing, making the black feline shrug. She didn't dare looking up at the raven hared mage when she said: "They're not broken away, Gajeel-san. They had been drawn out." The iron mage scowled at her. She knew he didn't scowl 'at her'. He scowled at the persons who had done this to his partner and friend. He just looked at her direction, because she had said, what had happened.

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PantherLily sat in the small cell they had left him, leaned on a wall. His torso hurt from the kick and one of the mages tossing him around in the cell to make his partner obey. He still had the anti-magic shackles around his wrists. His amber eyes gazed at the ground as he brooded. Since the dragonslayer was gone, they had fed him, so he was at least not starving, but the cats head still felt dizzy.

He was angry. With his dragonslayer, with the dark mages, with himself. Mostly with himself. The dark cat cursed under his breath. They had gotten a hold on them, what had never happened before, and literally _tossed_ them into this cell. The job had sounded easy to them. Just finding the guilds hideout and get hold of one special mage. It had sounded so easy. Of course it was not the kind of job they usually did. Usually they accepted jobs which were about catching hijackers, beating up monsters in forests, things like this which included physical fighting. He had never complained about those requests, they were good training after all. It had been Gajeel who wanted to do this one. PantherLily had just raised an eyebrow at this but agreed. It was a change from their normal jobs. And trying something new wouldn't hurt them, or so he thought. He had never contemplated they, well he, would end up like this. Beaten up, left alone – even if it hadn't been optional to the dragonslayer – in a cell with pint sized magic sealing shackles.

The Exceed had tried to get some rest, to prevent his injuries from more damage, but he wasn't able to sleep. He was tensed and his whole body just hurt. He had tried to stretch himself but just ended up hurting himself, so he stopped it. All he could do now, was sitting leaned against the wall for support, his legs spread and his small paws touching the ground, his head lowered, his tail on the ground, not moving from his spot. One of his round ears twitched at the sound of footsteps and faint voices outside of the cell. Alone by the sound of the footsteps he knew it couldn't possibly be Gajeel. Of course the iron Dragon was able to be very stealthy if it was necessary. However, most of the time the iron mage walked around with very loud, nearly stomping, sounds. And if it was to get his cat partner out of trouble, he would not bother being stealthy or even silent. He would go on a rampage and beat everything down what possibly crossed his way, when he was angered it was. The footsteps and the voices came closer to the cell and the feline lifted his head and looked up some.

Two mages came into his sight, one of them holding a oil lamp to enlighten the rather dark corridor. From the light that came in from a small window near the ceiling of the cell, Lily knew it was late afternoon. He recognised the men as two of the mages who had been in the cell before. One of them was the smaller one, which had used the levitation spell on him. The other one, was tall, nearly slender and had an insane grin on his lips. The black Exceed didn't say anything when they opened the cell door and stepped in. He lifted his head, to look up some, and shoot them a glare. But both of them only chuckled. The taller one approached the small feline, bend over and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

Lily hissed violently. He hated being picked up like this. Not even his partner did this. It felt so degrading to the Exceed. He struggled in this grip but the man just tightened it. In a fit of anger, although he had such things very rarely, he ascend his claws and managed to scratch the mans hand. The mage flinched, let out a small "Ouch!" and released his grip on the cat like creature. Again PantherLily landed roughly on the ground driving the air out of his lungs. "Damn creature, it scratched me!" the tall man said. The other one pointed his finger at the feline and used his levitation spell again. "It seems we have to do something against this behaviour." the small mage chuckled as they left the cell, Lily floating by their side.

They came into a small room, a big wooden chair was standing in the middle of it. The tall man approached the chair, the small one and Lily following him. The black cat narrowed his eyes when the taller mage flicked his fingers some times and the chair just shrunk down. This explained the tiny shackles they had used to seal PantherLilys magic. He was placed on the, now small chair and restrained. The black Exceed squirmed, trying to get himself free from the restrains. It didn't work. He didn't anticipate it to work, in his small form he had just a minor degree of his strength. Again he felt trapped in this small body. Trapped and useless. Without any magic power he was nothing more than a small talking cat. One of the mages again approached him, in his hands what looked like a calliper. The black Exceed began to trash about in the chair, trying to get free, but it was useless. He hissed loudly, showing his fangs, narrowing his eyes and buckling on his round ears. He wasn't much of a treat now, but he did not intend letting they do as they pleased with him. The small mage lifted the calliper and hit the left side of Pantherlilys face with it, hard. His head was thrown aside from the impact and he tasted blood. He also felt something in his mouth. After he had shaken his head some, which didn't help against the dizzynes or the pain he turned again and spat out, whatever was there bothering him. Along with blood, he saw a part of one of his fangs rolling over the ground. His eyes widened at the sight and his jaw hung open. But he hadn't enough time to even realise what had happened, when one of them grabbed his head and turned it around, so he had to face the grinning mages. He growled, looking up at them. There was no way he would give up his pride and beg for mercy. The taller mage punched him again, not as hard as the hit with the calliper had been, but still hard enough. He felt the left side of his face bruise up some.

"I think we have to drive out this behaviour of yours." one of them said and snickered. "Tch." the black feline retorted, and earned another punch. "You have scratched me." the tall man said, towering over the cat, looking down with his insane smile. "And him." he pointed at the other one. "To prevent you from doing this again, we'll punish you for it." Both snickered at his words. "Tch." Pantherlily made again. "I don't fear you 'punishment'" he snickered. When he heard this words coming out of his mouth he realised how much time he had spent with the Iron Dragonslayer. He started being reckless, like his partner was sometimes. And regarding his situation, it was not appropriate. Of course he regretted his words. One of them, he didn't care anymore which one it had been, slapped him. His head hurt and again he tasted blood in his mouth. But he would never admit he was in pain. The small mage grabbed one of the Exceeds paws lifting it up as high as possible and squeezed it, hardly until Lily felt a sharp pain, making him gasp for air. A crack was heard an he knew the man had just broken his paw. Just as a reflex he ascended his claws, digging them into the palm of the mage, making him cry out in pain.

"You damn cat!" the other said, but snickered. "Very good." it was a small whisper, the cat just heard faintly. He saw how the man opened the calliper and placing it at one of his claws. It took Lily a moment to realise what they wanted to do with him. And then the pain kicked in. The black feline forcefully closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. The pain was sharp and lasting. Even when he knew the claw was drawn out it lasted. PantherLily opened his eyes again, looking at the men. One of them held the, still bloody, claw in his hands, snickering. With a devilish grin he turned to face the Exceed again, tossing the claw aside, making it roll over the ground. The Exceed had clinched his teeth and his paws, slightly panting from the pain. The man came close again, again squeezing the cats paw. With all his willpower he tried to stop himself from ascending his claws. "If you apologise, we won't do it again. Sounds good, doesn't it? I'm sure you cannot endure to loose another claw." the man in front of him snickered. PatherLily cracked a smirk, which caused the man to squeeze his paw harder, so he couldn't restrain himself from ascending his claws, although it already hurt. Again they placed the calliper and pulled at one of his claws.

The small black cat squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth at the pain. He bit his tongue, so hard he tasted blood again. He would not show them how much it hurt. With a jerk they pulled out the claw, making him flinch, but he managed to stay silent.

* * *

Gajeel looked down at his partner, clinching his fists and growling loudly. He literally shook in anger. The dagonslayer had seen enough, when they proceeded to toss his cat through the small cell. But this. Drawing out his claws. This made him angry. He plopped himself down in the chair beside Lilys bed, looking down at his furry companion. "I should have known, they would do this." he muttered under his breath.

Wendy tensed up at the older dragonslayers words. She had stroked Lilys face, gently trailing along the cats signature scar. When she winced, Lily flinched and groaned out in pain, subconsciously. It made both of the dragons looking at him, Gajeel noticed first, leaning over some, to look at his partner again. The black haired mage extended his uninjured arm and placed his big hand at his partners head. With his thumb he opened up the small cats mouth, as gently as he was able to. He had seen right. One of his fangs was broken. Again the iron mage growled, louder this time.

In a fit of anger he stood up and stomped throughout the room, at first yelling, using all the curses he knew, at nobody in particular. "How do they even think they can do this to my cat?!" he shouted, walking in circles, growling and clinching his fists. "Nobody dares to touch him! Nobody! And now they dared to do this things to him? As wasn't the th..." he flinched and stopped in his tracks, realising, he was shouting, and Wendy and Charle were still in the Infirmary. He might have been loud enough for even Natsu and Laxus to hear him. He facepalmed himself. His anger had gotten the better of him, and now he would have to explain what had happened. Gajeel hadn't told anyone what was the case, why his partner was injured like that, who did this. Until now he had avoided to tell anyone.

The Iron Dragonslayer felt Wendys and Charles gaze at him. "Gajeel-san. What happened?" the pint sized dragonslayer asked. The tall man squeezed his eyes shut and pinched his bridge with his good hand. He let out a very loud and dark growl and walked back over to his partners bed, sitting down beside the black feline creature. Hesitantly placing a big hand on the cats head, scratching behind one of his partners round ears. Something he did occasionally, as a sign of affection, or to comfort the Exceed while thunderstorms. But now he didn't even know if his partner was able to feel the scratches. And for the first time, since the petite sky mage knew the rough man, who sat on the bed, gently stroking a small cat, she saw something in his face, she never believed he would show openly. Guilt. His red eyes were filled with guilt. He muttered under his breath, silently, the sky dragonslayer didn't understand much of it. "It's my fault." the feared man said, the rest of his words drowned in the loud sound of the man gritting his teeth.

* * *

Gajeel entered the Fairy Tail guild hall, alone. The Guildmembers who saw this looked at him in surprise. Seeing him all alone in Fairy Tail was rare. He always entered with the small black Exceed either floating by his side or sitting at his shoulder. The tall man stomped to the counter, receiving more stares and a big mug of beer from Mirajane, who watched him closely. The raven haired man had a dark aura around him, which prevented the white haired barmaid asking him a question for now. He plopped down on a barstool and rested his head on the counter, his face showing displeasure. The dragonslayer started glowering at nothing in particular, not saying a single word.

Makarov, Fairy Tails Guild Master sat at a nearby table and observed the, seemingly very angry man. Since he had joined the guild, he had destroyed beforehand, the old master had never seen him this upset. He, the master, had asked him to take the last mission. Since Gajeel had spied on Raven Tail for him, he was sure everything had gone well with this, quite easy job. It was just about getting hold of one mage. But he figured he had to ask the dragonslayer what was the case, maybe he would be in a better mood after this. The partly bald man walked over to the counter and took a seat at it, right beside the pierced man. He brought up his mug to his lips and took a sip, waiting for the other to speak up. But he kept silent.

The Master sat down his own mug, just to see Gajeel lifting up his and emptying it with one large gulp. The Iron mage slammed it down the counter growling a "Another!" and rested his head on the counter again, brooding. "Gajeel..." The master said, drawing the dragonslayers attention to him. The mans red eyes literally pierced him, just because he had dared to talk to him. And the dragonslayer had always respected the Fairy Tails Guild Master. Who had been the one to invite him into this guild, giving him the chance to repent for what he had done, while he had been in Phantom Lord, and to meet PantherLily. If all of this hadn't happened at all, he would never had the chance to really meet the blue haired script mage, whom he had hurt so bad. And he had never been at Edolas, where he had met his partner, and friend, the black Exceed. But if all of this hadn't happened, Lily wouldn't be in the kind of danger he was now. Gajeel _knew_ they would not just let the cat be. Eventually he straightened himself up, looking down at the master and managed a, still angry sounding: "What?" But the dragonslayer was proud with himself. If it had been any other person, he may have sounded like he wanted to murder the person who dared talking to him.

"Where is Lily? I haven't seen him around, and normally you are always together." the master asked, his voice full of concern. The tall and rather feared man flinched lightly at the masters question. But he had thought about what to say the whole way back to Magnolia. He had even practised every single word, just that nobody raised suspicion. "He's at home. Recovering from injuries." he said. The trick with good lies was to keep them short. Too much details were suspicious. The master looked at the dragonslayer and nodded. "I hope he recovers quickly. Send him my regards." Gajeel nodded and grabbed the mug, Mirajane had placed in front of him. The dragonslayer still pondered about what the men had wanted him to do. Finding out the secret behind Lumen Histoire. It was the key to get his partner back. But Lily had demanded him to not do it. And, if even the most trusted mages, like Erza or Mirajane didn't know anything about it, there would be no way Gajeel would be the one to find it out, was there? And even if he was bound to find out, his partner would be furious with him, if he got out of this mess alive, it was.

The Iron Dragonslayer sat there, several hours listening into several conversations, maybe somebody, anybody knew something and whispered about it. Some of the conversations were quite funny to hear for the dragonslayer, like the one the bunnygirl and Bixlow had, about her being in love with Natsu, which the blue cat had joined happily. Some were boring, like the one that Erza had with Wendy about cute clothes. Some of them were disgusting, like the one the old man with the pipe had with his partner, about the young women in their guild. But none of them were helpful. At one point Natsu and Gray had started to brawl. More of the guilds mages had joined them, and even managed to throw a chair at Gajeel. Normally he would have ran over to fight the one who threw things at him, but not today. This alone made them stop fighting in the middle of the guild hall. The Iron dragon heard the Salamander muttering about, 'what was wrong with him', and how he was 'no fun'.

Sine he hadn't heard anything what could possibly help him he stood up, shoving the money for the drinks and the metal mug he had eaten, partly accidentally, over the counter to Mirajane and wanted to leave, when she stopped him, by calling out his name. He turned around and looked at her, with a growl. She dared to stop him from going home, where, at least that was what they were thinking, his partner was waiting for him. "Here." the barmaid said and handed him a small bag. The dragonslayer raised an eyebrow at her and looked into it. It was filled with some Kiwis. "Tell Lily, I hope he is better soon." the take-over mage said with a cheerful smile. The dragon nodded and left the guild hall. On his way back he pondered why he even tried to get informations. "I should go there and beat the crap out of them." he muttered as he walked down the main street of Magnolia. Some people crossed his way, but nobody talked to him. Not that he wanted them to. Sometimes, when he walked around in the town, with his partner, some people actually talked to them, even if it was rarely. Although it had felt strange when it had happened the first time. He was deep in thought when he heared some familiar footsteps behind him. They were light, but not as light at the script mages, but too light than being Titanias. The dragonslayer growled when he recognised them as the demon barmaids. Today she seemed to intend to make him angry. Gajeel gritted his teeth and turned around, scowling darkly at the white haired woman. It made her flinch some, much to the dragons satisfaction. "What d' ya want?" he snarled, narrowing his eyes at her. He thought it had been obvious, he was in a very bad mood. Why did she bother following him, knowing this? Mirajane managed to smile cheerfully at the iron Dragonslayer. But the mentioned was far to concerned about his partner, so he was not able to be patient right now. "Get lost!" he nearly shouted at her. "Don't you dare following me!" With this he turned and started walking again, looking back and narrowing his eyes at her. Eventually she turned around and went back. The dragonslayer waited until he wasn't able to hear her footsteps anymore and stopped. He clinched his fist, and looked at the small white bag in his hand. In a fit of anger he tossed the small bag into a nearby garbage tin, cursing loudly.

Some people stared at him when he walked away still muttering all kinds of curses under his breath. People avoided him, while he was walking past them. Nobody wanted to clash with the tall man. In the outskirts of Magnolia he reached the house his apartment was in. The dragonslayer opened the door and walked in. Nobody was there waiting for him.

* * *

Wendy sat on the black Exceeds bed and held out both of her hands, which were engulfed by the sky blue light of her magic. She looked a little tired, because she tried to heal as much as possible right now. And she looked concerned, of what Gajeel had said earlier. He didn't explain himself, and seemed like he was in shock. Charle had patched him up some, she had even stitched the gash on his side.

When Wendy was done, healing PantherLily as far as she was able to right now, she turned at her fellow dragonslayer. He sat at the chair beside the bed, his eyes glued to the small cat. The small dragonslayer held out her hands again, in the tall mans direction and started healing him. She was very careful, but managed to heal his broken arm. Gajeel didn't even flinch, when she connected the bone again, which, she knew, was very painful. His red eyes lay on his partner. Lily was still unconscious, but he didn't seem as much in pain as he had been. His eyes were closed, but not squeezed shut like before. Which left Wendy in relieve. When she was done, the raven haired man tore his eyes away from his partner and looked at the bluenette. He didn't smirk, nor did he pat her head or one of the other things he used to do when she healed him normally, he just said: "Thanks, kid."

It was Charle who spoke up now. "You should go home and rest up." the white Exceed said, although she knew the dragonslayer would never go and leave his partner back here. The man growled again, loudly. "I'll stay." he said, and both of the girls knew there was nothing they could do against it. All of them were aware how stubborn the dragonslayer could be, when it was because of his cat partner in particular.

Normally, when Gajeel was the injured one, who had to stay in the Infirmary, Lily would stay at his partners side, too. Although he would say he'd stay in a more polite way. The small sky dragonslayer looked at the man, who still sat at the bed and said, before she left: "Please make sure to get some rest, Gajeel san." The raven haired man just grimaced at it, and she knew he would not rest properly, but she left the Infirmary with a silent: "Good night." She knew, like everybody else, who had seen him and his behaviour, he was devastated because of what happened, even if he didn't show it openly.

When the bluenette and her white cat had left the room, Gajeel remained motionless until her footsteps had fainted. He stood up and walked over to another bed, getting himself a pillow and a blanket. With both in his hands he plopped himself down in the chair beside the black Exceeds bed. He shoved the pillow behind his head. Then he took off his boots and propped up his legs on the bed, making sure they didn't touch his partner. The Iron Dragonslayer pulled the blanket over his body and slouched some in his seat. It was not like he was cold, or the chair was uncomfortable, but if his cat was bound to wake up in the middle of the night, seeing him sitting there he would scold him. So Gajeel sat there, wrapped up in the blanket his red eyes always at the small Exceed, waiting for him to wake up.

* * *

- This hurts me... physically.

Reviews are welcome -


	4. Chapter 3 - Shower

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all of it's Characters are property of Hiro Mashima.

* * *

The morning sun beamed onto Gajeel Redfox face and he squirmed. Just in time he remembered he sat on a chair and grabbed the back rest of it, before he fell onto the ground. The tall man sat up again growling and rubbed his face with one hand. He didn't remember when he had fallen asleep, but his back reminded him how painful it was to sleep on a chair. So he stood up and stretched until his back popped loudly. On normal days at his apartment in his bed he would turn around, looking for his small black cat partner. The Exceed would lie at his side all curled up on one of the big pillows, slightly purring in his sleep, something that made Gajeel smirk mostly. The moment the dragon would stir in the bed, Lily would be woken up by the movements, his eyes still closed, refusing to wake up. So Gajeel would snicker his signature laugh and poke his partner until he responded.

But this day wasn't a normal day. The raven haired man turned around and looked onto the bed, which was too big to just hold his partner. The Exceed, seemingly asleep, breathed lightly. Gajeel could see the cats chest raise and lower rhythmically. But the amber eyes, which normally would be open by now, looking at him with a small scowl, because he had been woken up, were still shut. He was bandaged, the small, surprisingly soft, paws which normally patched him up, or slapping the back of his head when he had done something reckless, were covered in gauze and bandages. Which reminded the dragonslayer of the two drawn out claws of his feline partner. He growled again, louder this time. Why doesn't Lily wake up? He had asked himself since he had been alone in the Infirmary. Wendy had told him the Exceeds head was alright. Seemingly the only part of the cats body which hadn't been broken by those mages.

Although he could not stand the sight of his partner being like this, he plopped down on the chair again tossing the blanket away, it landed on another bed but slid down onto the ground. The dragonslayer couldn't care less. He again propped his legs onto the bed, narrowing his eyes at the small cat.

He turned around, when the door opened. It was a faint sound. In the doorway there stood a small woman with blue hair, a bandana holding her bangs out of her face, a orange dress with a small flower pattern and a belt which was held together with a bow, and a small tray in her hands. She looked at him and smiled shyly. Gajeel said nothing and just turned around again. At least he didn't yell at her like he had done the day before. Levy, Fairy Tails script mage, closed the door with a silent 'thud' sound, walked over. She placed the tray on the small table beside the cats bed. On top of it there was a cup of hot coffee and something that looked like a sandwich. So it was not for the Exceed. PantherLily didn't drink coffee, ever.

Another chair was placed beside the bed and the script mage sat down on it. She fiddled with her dress some, looking down at her hands. At first it didn't seem that she knew what she wanted to say. In fact she had stood in front of the door for a while, thinking about what to say to make him feel better. But she came to the conclusion there was nothing which would make him feel better the slightest. Even if she said: 'He will be better soon' she would felt like a terrible liar. She didn't know if the black Exceed would wake up any time soon, or be better. She knew the Exceed meant much to the dragonslayer. She had seen their bond when she watched them inside the guild hall. How they just sat at a table in silence, or talking quietly. How they exchanged small insults sometimes, in a cute way of an argument. How they retorted to the others jokes good naturedly. How they would bicker, just to end it with a smirk each, and maybe a short signature laugh of the dragonslayer.

Levy could only try to understand how Gajeel felt. Of course, she loved Jet and Dory, they were her childhood friends, but the friendship between the dragonslayer and the Exceed seemed so completely different from what she had experienced. She had seen, how he had been before he had brought the black feline to the guild. How he had been lurking in the back of the guild, watching Natsu and Happy, or Wendy and Charle, most likely feeling left out. His fellow Dragonslayers had the cat like creatures, he didn't. And then he brought PantherLily, an Exceed who had seemed strangely fitting to the iron Dragonslayer. And he adored his small cat partner. The bluenette had lost of the cunt how often he had called the black cat 'awesome' and how often he had pulled Lily into a hug. And now, seeing the Exceed in this condition, the worst anyone had ever seen him, Gajeel had to be devastated.

The small script mage looked up at the tall raven haired man. His eye seemed better and the cuts just looked like small scratches now. Wendy had done her best to heal him up as good as possible. He could have gone home, if he had wanted to. But she knew he had stayed in the guild, because he wanted to be there when his partner woke up. He wanted to be the first person by his side.

She saw some remains of the Exceeds blood on Gajeels arms, and he seemed like he needed a very long, very hot shower. Not to just clean up, to relax some. There was no way he was able to relax as long as his cat was in this condition, but he needed at least a little relaxation. He looked awful. But everybody would look awful with their partner like this. "If ya got somethin' to say, say it…and stop starin'," Gajeel growled at her. Normally he would add one of the numerous nicknames he had for her, but not today. "Uh..." she said and raised her shoulders making herself smaller than she already was. Again she fidgeted with her dress. "Don't you think..." she started, without looking up. "Don't you think you should go home for a while?" she asked and feared a terrible outburst from the dragonslayer but surprisingly he just sat there in silence, red eyes at the black furry creature on the bed. Levy would literally die to know what was on his mind, but as always he kept it for himself. The only person in the whole Fairy Tail Guild who could possibly know what was on the dragons mind was PantherLily. "Cannot leave him alone here." he mumbled.

She had thought it would be something like this. "If... if you want... I can stay with him, until you're back." This was the first time he turned and looked into her eyes. Just a short moment and then he turned back, watching his partner again. "You should take a shower or something like that." the bookworm whispered but tensed up. Again the dragonslayer looked at her, blinking this time. "I... it's not like you reek or something like that." she started panicking. What if she had insulted him? "I just saw, you have still remains of blood on your arms." With this he turned his head and looked down. "And... Lily would scold you, for sitting around like this all worried over him." she pressed out.

Gajeel started thinking again. He knew his cat very well and he knew perfectly how Lily reacted when he went overprotective over him. The Exceed would lecture him, his voice annoyed, one of his paws held up, waving his worries away, like he did everytime. The dragon clinched his teeth. She was right. If PantherLily was to wake up any time soon, and saw him like this, he would never hear the end of it. Again he turned and faced the blue haired woman at his side. He fought with himself. Just a moment long. And then he swallowed all his pride, and spoke: "Can ya keep an eye on him until I'm back?" he muttered.

Now it was Levys turn to blink at him. Gajeel never asked anyone, but Lily, for any favours. And now he wanted to entrust his cat to her? Even though she had offered to stay with Lily until he was back. He turned at her. And his face was full of concern and guilt and more emotions she couldn't place. "Uh... yes." she said, blinking up at the tall man, but he had turned away again. The dragonslayer slipped on his boots and stood up slowly. And then he did something, she had never seen him doing. He bend over, stretching out one of his arms and placed his big hand on his partners head, stroking the fur lightly, muttering something she couldn't understand. Then he straightened himself, ruffled the bluenettes hair and left the room. She looked at the door until it was closed then turned around to face PantherLily again. In this little moment she had witnessed there had been so much affection and intimacy. It was something that was never seen inside the guild, Gajeel had never done such a thing in front of anyone. Even though he showed his affections sometimes, buying Kiwis, scratching his partner behind his round ears, pulling him into a hug. He had never done such a gentle thing as just stroking his partners head, in a manner nobody had ever seen or even expected from him, in front of them. To Levy it seemed like the ultimate proof of their friendship.

Gajeel, however walked through the streets of Magnolia after leaving the infirmary just moments ago. His hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground. He wasn't as angry as he had been a day before. Maybe it had done him good to sleep at his partners side. Even though Lily wasn't able to look at him or even talk in his state, it had something strangely calming, when he was around the small cat. Lily was the one who always calmed him down. It seemed now only his physical presence calmed him. Maybe it was the fact he was breathing by now.

* * *

Some time after they had accepted the request from Makarov.

"The request says it's around here." the small flying cat at the Iron Dragonslayers side said, floating at his eyesight. Even though they had been partners for some time now Gajeel sometimes wondered when he looked at his cat partner. The Exceed, what those creatures were named, had been very different when they fist met. He had been tall, taller than Gajeel actually, and massive. Now he was small, you could call him cute, with his dark fur and white muzzle, not to forget the tiny white palms of his paws. In contrast to all the others of his race he had round ears, that twitched when he heard something out of the ordinary. His amber eyes had a serious look, and the scar across his left eye gave him something rough. And he had the size shifting sword on his back. He sure was different from all the other Exceeds out there. "Stop staring, and look for a trace, metalhead." The Exceed snarled and looked around.

Somewhere around the place they were standing, had to be the hideout of a dark guild. The request, which was handed to him by Master Makarov, was about getting hold of one special mage, who happened to be part of the guild. It was nothing they did normally. But since the Master had insisted that they had to go, they did it. Not that PantherLily knew it had been Makarovs request. The dragon had grabbed the request form and had slammed it on the counter, beside the black cat, who had sipped on a glass of juice. He had read over the paper and looked up with an eyebrow raised. "We're going on this job." the dragonslayer had said, and the Exceed had nodded. He rarely asked questions when it came to jobs. He trusted his partner. Hell the dragon entrusted the small feline his life, and so did Lily with his. That's how they had landed here.

Gajeel stopped thinking about all this when he heard some rustling in the bushes behind them. When he turned around, from the corner on his eye he saw his partner floating at his side again and had drawn his sword.

A man emerged the bushes. He was small and had a terrified look on his face. He didn't seem like a threat now. And if he hadn't had the Guild mark of the guild they were looking for, they probably hadn't said anything at all. But with the guild mark on his arm, the man literally asked them to do something. Gajeel had grabbed the man by his collar, his red eyes piercing into the brown ones of the foreign man. Their target shivered lightly. The feline floated at his partners side. "Where's your hideout?" the dragonslayer snarled. The man again shivered. It seemed he knew why they were after them. "I... I don't know what you're talking about." he said, so the Irom mage started shaking him. "I... I don't know..." the man demanded. "I can see you're part of that guild. Don't try mockin' me." the dragonslayer growled.

The Exceed was certain something was wrong with this guy. He wanted to voice out his thoughts, but couldn't because another man emerged from the bushes. And then another and another. The man, in Gajeels grip grinned wickedly and started to laugh. At this moment, Lily knew, they were in trouble. They had just been caught in a trap.

* * *

Gajeel shook his head to get rid of this memories for now. When he entered his apartment the dragonslayer sighed a loud sigh. It was empty. No one was there. And normally, when his partner was with him, there was still a bit of life in here. He didn't seem to remember the time when he had lived here alone. When he was all by himself in his solitude, and didn't care about it. So much had changed since he had brought the Exceed with him.

First he wanted to sit down on his couch, but he had done this too often in the last time while his partner was gone. So he scuffled into his bedroom and from there into the bathroom. He looked over his shoulder to the bed. It was a big bed, with more than enough space for two people to fit in. Normally he shared it with the Exceed. The cat like creature had his own spot on one of the big pillows. Gajeel had more than once ended up with hugging him tightly. He remembered the first time, he had done this, he had been scratched by the cat. But after some time Lily seemed to accustom to this and he didn't receive any scratches any more. Although the feline still struggled against his grip sometimes.

He shrugged the thoughts off and went into the bathroom. Without another thought he turned on the faucet.

* * *

"Damn it!" Gajeel cursed under his breath. He should have known it was a trap, but he didn't. It had been strange. He had caught the scent of the first man they had encountered, but mixed up with something different.

The dragonslayer wasn't sure how long they were fighting exactly now. But he knew his magic was nearly used up. His partner stood at his back in his battle form. And he knew the Exceed too would surly change back into his small form in a short time. Regardless that fact Lily still struck his sword at the attacking men.

They were confronted with overwhelming numbers of dark mages around them. Every time they took one down, it seemed two appeared in the ones stead. Another one of them attacked the dragonslayer. He changed his arm into an Iron pillar and just shoved him aside. The next moment he heard the familiar sound of Lily changing back into his small form. The black Exceed landed on the ground, the still enlarged Musica Sword in one of his paws cursing silently. The moment they saw the cat changing back a hoard of them charged at the small, now nearly defenceless creature. Gajeel turned around quickly and grabbed his partner. Some of the dark mages charged from the other side as well, circling them. He felt how he got hit by several kinds of magic. But he tried to shield his small partner, who he had brought into this mess.

The dragonslayer took in a deep breath, using the very rest of his magic power and unleashed an Iron Dragons Roar at the men in front of him, knocking several of them out. He could see the iron shards in the mens bodies. The ones, that had been close to them, would suffer long from their injuries. He panted. The majority of the dark mages still attacked them. Suddenly he felt hands on him.

Whoever it was they pressed him down on the ground. When he felt the ground coming closer, he released the grip on his partner, muttering: "Go back into the guild. Tell Master what happened." His partner didn't ask any questions when he landed on the ground. Several mages restrained him on the ground. They seemed to know the physical strength of the dragonslayer as well. At least Lily had managed to escape for now. He thought, when he felt cold metal being brought on his wrists. The dragons felt the effect of the shackles before they were even closed they successfully sealed his magic but he didn't think about handing himself over. He began to trash about when they pulled him up again.

One of the mages pulled his hair, so he had to look up. Another one of them held something in front of his face. It was a small black cat with a white muzzle and round ears. Blood was dripping down the white muzzle and his whiskers. Tiny shackles were fixed on his wrists. The dragon growled.

"Beatin' up a defenceless cat. You're lower then I thought ya would be." he said, but his words drowned in the dark mages laughter.

* * *

Gajeel walked back to the guild hall. He felt a little better after the shower. His muscles were more relaxed, and he had washed off the remains of PantherLilys blood. At least he was more calm now. The dragonslayer had his hands shoved into his pockets when he walked inside the guild. It was the normal ruckus, when he entered. Many people were cheerful, some of them yelling at the bar for more drinks. In the back some people were already brawling, throwing things throughout the hall in the process. The Iron Dragonslayer dodged a beer filled mug. Normally he would join in and fight the one, who had thrown the thing at him, but he just kept walking back into the infirmary.

He felt the others gazes at his back. Some of them looked at him in pity because of what had happened, but some looked at him in suspicions. It was good he didn't see those glances now. If he had seen them, he most likely wouldn't be able to hold himself back. Normally, he didn't care about those suspicious glances some people still sent him, because he knew, some still thought he was dangerous, or would try anything to get revenge on them. Even though all of this had happened such a long time ago. He sighed loudly, when he had closed the door to the corridor which led to the Infirmary. Without Lily around who constantly drew the dragonslayers attention to him, and Gajeel didn't know if the cat did this on purpose or not, he felt the gazes from the others. Annoyed he gritted his teeth.

When he opened the door he froze for a moment. The room was enlightened, because the sun shone though the windows. The dragonlayer could see small dust particles floating around, because of the brightness, but that wasn't why he stopped. He leaned at the door case, observing.

Levy, the small script mage, still sat beside PantherLilys bed, but she sat on the ground, on top of the blanket from another bed. The bluenette held one of Lilys paws in her small hand, stroking the fur on it lightly. From what the dragons could see, she had an even more lighter touch than Wendy. But he had always thought she wasn't build for a strong handshake anyway.

"And then..." he heard her voice, she barely muttered, but Gajeel could understand her clearly. "...Natsu managed to actually knock the book out of my hand." Silently he entered the room and closed the door without any sound. "Gray accidentally kicked against it and sent it flying throughout the whole guild. It smashed into a wall and hit Elfman when it fell down onto the ground. I was so furious." she said. The raven haired man knew, Levy and Lily were friends. When they came back from missions, she always told him, what had happened on hers. Sometimes, she sat with him in the back of the guild hall, reading to him. Legends, myths and sometimes Fairy Tales, about heroes, dragons and many other things. He had seen it often, once in a while sitting with them, listening to Levys reading. Even now, with Lily being unconscious, she talked to him. On her side, there lay a book, again a collection of Fairy Tales.

Slowly, and still without a sound, he approached them. When he was behind the script mage she turned around, cutting off her story, looking up at him. Her hand was still stroking his partners fur. She seemed surprised and a little embarrassed. But the dragonslayer just smirked, not like he did normally, but he still managed to do it, and sat down. "Have ya already read to him?" he asked. Levy shook her head, her blue hair slightly bouncing from the movements. She let go of Lilys paw, not before giving it a last stroke, and picked up a book. The small woman opened it at a bookmarked page. Slowly she leaned back, now sitting between Gajeel, who had sat down on the chair beside his partners bed, and Lily, on the ground. She started reading to the two of them. "Once upon a time..."

* * *

Levy reading to Lily is one of my headcanons.

I'm looking forward to the next chapter, it's one of my personal favourites.

Reviwes are always welcome.


	5. Chapter 4 - Thunderstorms

- Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all of it's Characters are property of Hiro Mashima.-

* * *

A loud clap of thunder made Gajeel look up. A thunderstorm seemed to pass Magnolia. He lowered his gaze at his partner again who, at the next clap, tensed up some. Even though he was still unconscious he reacted to the sound of thunder. The fear must sit deep inside. The dragonslayer switched from the chair he was sitting on to the bed, stretching out one of his hands and placed it on his partners head, carefully folding his round ears over. Just like Pantherlily tended to do it. And it seemed to help. When thunder clapped again the black Exceed didn't move. He smirked. This was maybe the first time since they were partners, that he didn't make fun of his partners fear.

* * *

The raven haired man still remembered the first time, when he had seen his partners terrible fear of thunder and lightning. It had been in the middle of the night. Gajeel had laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep for some reason. His partner had been curled up by his side, faintly purring in his sleep. Something the mage came to like. It showed that his partner was alright. The purring sound normally made the iron dragonslayer sleepy, but not in this particular night. It had been the moment, where he had contemplated about getting up and drink a glass of PantherLilys milk, maybe that would have helped him sleeping, when the first loud clap of thunder disturbed the comfortable silence in his bedroom. Followed by a sudden flash of light. The next thing Gajeel knew was that he had heard a loud and violent hissing sound and the feeling of something light moving on the mattress. When he had looked at his side, where his cat had been sleeping peacefully just moments ago, the feline was gone. He had stared at the pillow for a moment. When the thunder had clapped again he heard the hissing sound again, coming from under the bed.

The dragon had squirmed a bit until he was at the edge and then leaned down to look under the bed. He had come to see a small black furry creature in the corner between the wall and a small wardrobe, trembling. His round ears covered with his paws. The raven haired man had a cocked grin on his face, when he saw this. He had climbed down the bed, placing himself in front of the gap between the bed and the ground, reaching in with one hand as he had tried to catch the cat like creature. The small Exceed tensed up, when another clap of thunder was heard. Halfway stuck in the gap he had managed to grab his small partner, who had scratched him in fear. He had cursed, loud but still had snatched the terrified cat and pulled him out from under the bed, hardly trying not to pull on his tail. Placed on the crook of his arm Pantherlily had slowly calmed down, at least he had stopped scratching him. He had folded his ears over with his paws, still slightly shaking. "Who would have thought?" the dragonslayer had smirked. He had heard his partner growl some, but tense up at the next flash of light. The iron mage had smirked at the thought of the massive Exceed trying to hide under his bed, back in Edolas, he had even chuckled. Then he had sat down on the bed and had started scratching on the cats head, behind his round ears, not without making fun of his small partner.

* * *

He still sat in the infirmary in silence. Excluding Wendy, who came frequently to look after Lily and change his bandages, and Levy, who came to read the black cat stories or tell him what happened in the guild, it was rare that people stopped by. Once in a while Mirajane came in, to provide the dragonslayer with food, drinks and iron. But she never stayed long, knowing the iron mages temper, and what had happened the first day they were back.

So Gajeel just sat there, covering up his partners ears with his hand, trying to keep the sound away from the small cat, so he could at least rest, or whatever he did. Because he just didn't seem to even try and wake up. And the raven haired man wondered why.

* * *

A week. Seven days. Seven long days since he had left his partner at the dark guild to come back and spy on his own. His mood became worse by the day. He had smashed the fire dragonslayers head into a nearby wall, just yesterday, because he had made a comment on him, Gajeel Redfox, missing his cat, when he was alone at the guild. Which had led to a big brawl and ended in Master Makarov ending it, by using his giant magic.

Although he didn't intend to spy on them, he had listened in many conversations since he was back. If Lily had known this, he had scolded him, maybe even smacked the back of his head, like he tended to do to bring him back to his senses. But he wasn't here to do so. And Gajeels resistance started to crumble. He was worried sick because of his small cat. Somehow he felt in his guts that they didn't let him be until the dragon was back, which made his blood literally boil with anger. Right now, being restrained with anti-magic shackles the Exceed was nothing more than a small defenceless cat.

Slowly he lost his patience. If he didn't get hold of anything, he would need to get there and get his partner back, by force. He gritted his teeth and clinched his fists. The iron dragonslayer, sat on the counter, all alone. Since the barfight yesterday they didn't dare to come near him and get on his nerves. Mirajane had served him a big mug of beer and then retreated. It was like all of them could feel him being angry. Or nearly everybody. At least that was what he thought, when Makarov sat down on the counter. The old man too had a mug of beer in his hand and just took a deep gulp out of it. The guild master didn't seem to be bothered by the dragonslayers scowl. If something he seemed a little worried. But for him or any other of his 'children' what he liked to call them, was something Gajeel couldn't see. So he turned back, brooding.

After a while of silence, when Makarov surly contemplated if it was safe to talk to the young man, he started talking to the intimidating mage. He had turned to face Gajeel, cross legged and still sitting on the counter. His smile literally wiped away from his lips, as if he wanted to talk about a serious matter. His voice was low, so nobody, not even Natsu could hear what he said. "Where's your partner?" he asked. It sounded as if he tried to force himself to sound nonchalantly. "Recovering from injuries." the dragon replied, without hesitation.

He hadn't changed his excuse for his partners absence. And he didn't intend to. Makarov sighed, loud enough so Gajeel could hear it. This catched the iron mages attention. He turned his head, to look at the guilds master, and found himself in front of a very angry old man. And he knew to respect the masters anger. "Don't lie to me, Gajeel." he said, silently, but it was an open treat. The raven haired mans crimson eyes widened. He had never felt such an aura from Makarov since he had attacked the guild, and crucified the shrimp and her team to a tree in the park. And that was a long time ago. "Where. Is. Lily?" he asked. And the dragonslayer knew, if he lied again... he didn't even want to picture what would happen.

He averted his eyes from the master, holding a firm grip on his mug of beer. He even shook slightly. Since Makarov had come to the scrapyard back then to invite him to Fairy Tail Gajeel had always respected the man. And he had known he would never be harmed by this man, until he brought harm to the guild or any of the guild members. The dragonslayer took a deep breath and looked into his mug, as if the answer was hidden in the head of the beer.

The, indeed very proud, Iron Dragonslayer lowered his head in shame. Shame, that he wasn't able to protect his partner. Shame, that he had left him back at the dark guilds hideout. Shame, that he had accepted ho spy on his own guild, just to get his small partner back. Surprisingly, after the treat against the iron mage, Master Makarov waited patiently for a reply. As if he had known something was wrong for a long time. He sure was similar to the black Exceed, knowing more things than they let other people know of. It took Gajeel some time to face his Master again, to know which words he wanted to say.

Again he took a deep breath before speaking. "He's at the dark guilds hideout." he said, matter of factly. His voice was very low. He didn't want any of the other dragonslayers to hear him. He didn't want anybody to make a fuss over this. He wanted to clear this himself, and if it meant to get there all alone and beat the living shit out of the dark mages, so be it. And that was, what Makarov saw. The dragonslayers determination. His eyes widened and he gasped silently. Gajeel didn't look in the masters direction. Instead he lifted up his mug and started drinking from it. He could literally feel the old mans gaze at him, shocked his jaw dropped open. Makarov was stunned. He had never thought the raven haired man would leave his partner anywhere. It always seemed like he wanted him by his side. Not because he was an Exceed and Natsu and Wendy had their respective felines by their side. No. He knew of the deep bond they shared, even though they weren't together as long as the other dragonslayers and their Exceed.

After a log moment the pierced man started to explain what had happened. How they went on the job Makarov had asked Gajeel to take. How they had been captured, and why he was here alone. How the men had tortured the small Exceed to make him obey. He told him, that they wanted to know about Lumen Histoire. He too told him, that he didn't intend to ask somebody to tell him what this was about.

The moment Makarov raised his voice again asking: "What..?", what maybe had meant to be a 'What are you going to do now?' a loud clap of thunder was heard, startling many people in the guild. Several yelps were heard and from the corner of his eye the dragon had seen the small script mage nearly jumping out of her skin. The first clap of thunder was always the worst, because nobody expected them. Just moments later a flash of light lighted the whole guild. A thunderstorm was arriving in Magnolia.

Normally, after the first clap of thunder his small cat partner would be a shaking mess. He always made fun of his partners fear, good naturedly of course, but he would always grab his small partner, enduring possible scratches from the terrified cat, and calm him down some. He slid down from his barstool, shoving the money for his beer over the counter and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" he heard the Masters voice. Gajeel turned back, looking at the tiny old man. A forced grin on his lips he said: "I've a terrified cat at home." he said and turned again.

Makarov was sure the dragonslayer wanted to handle it alone.

Gajeel opened the door to his apartment and looked around. He smashed the door closed and walked over into his bedroom, kicking off his boots on the way. For a moment he stood in the doorway looking at his bed. Since the day Gajeel had pulled Lily out from under the bed, the small Exceed had always hid under the pillows. But this time there was no trembling black cat on his bed.

He walked over and sat down, leaning on the headboard looking at the big pillow his partner normally slept on, gritting his teeth.

* * *

Seven days. PantherLily was sure it had been seven days now.

The anti magic shackles were heavy on his tiny wrists. The men had laughed, when they walked by. Gossiping, saying the dragonslayer wouldn't come back for him. He had abandoned his pet cat. The Exceed trusted his partner. He had entrusted his life more than once to him, and he trusted him with this. Gajeel would never abandon him. They were partners. Best friends. He was the dragonslayers cat, his long awaited and adored cat. He would never let him rot in here, without a reason. The black feline was sure, his dragon planned something to get him back as soon as possible.

He was sure, by now it would be hard for the mage to hide, what had happened. So that meant it wouldn't take long until he came back. That was something Lily clinged to. He refused to lose his trust in his partner.

It was raining outside, rather hard. He heard the raindrops falling onto the ground and felt some of them actually falling into the cell he sat in. He sat under the hole, which was provided with cell bars. Occasionally raindrops fell down, landing on his head, his arms, his paws or his tail. His amber eyes were on the ground, when he sat there his short legs sprawled. The last time he had tried to ascend his claws it had felt like somebody had driven knives in his paws. He wasn't too happy about this. But whenever the dragonslayer came back and saw his cat in this condition, he would be very angry with the men. He was lost in thought, so he didn't realise, the storm was getting worse.

A loud clap of thunder and a sudden flash of light made him jump in surprise and fear. A loud yelp escaped his lips as the next clap of thunder was heard. Frantically he lifted his paws and folded his round ears over his head to tune down the sound of thunder, but still started shivering in fear. The shackles pushed against his head, but he didn't feel it, his head was blank at the very moment. He made himself smaller, as small as possible, without hurting himself, out of instinct. He was so terrified. It had been a long time since ha had been terrified like this.

The cat didn't know when it had started, him feeling a little safe while thunderstorms. But right now he didn't feel safe. He felt vulnerable, something he hadn't felt for a long time. Vulnerable and terrified and, what was worst, alone. Since he had joined Fairy Tail, he hadn't felt alone. Another clap of thunder made him yelp again. Shivering he scooted over to a corner, far away from the window and the rain and the lightnings and the noise. He kneeled on the ground, his torso hunched over as much as possible. The fur on his tail was puffed out and he trembled in fear. He could feel his face getting hot under his fur, his face was blushed in embarrassment, even though nobody was near to observe what he did, at least he thought that.

The storm outside didn't cease, in fact it got even worse, although Lily had been sure that couldn't happen. The surly dark overclouded sky rumbled over and over, every time making the black Exceed tremble and jump in fear. Lightning flashed, lighting up the small cell he was held captive in. With the noise of the thunder, which he wasn't able to tune out entirely, he didn't hear the footsteps approaching him, nor the voices, which talked, trying to understand the other one between the claps of thunder. He didn't hear how somebody opened the cell door and stopped dead in his tracks, seeing the black feline creature trembling in one of the corners. And of course, he didn't see the sadistic smirk that crossed the mans face.

What he did feel were two hands grabbing him around his stomach, lifting him up. PantherLily tensed up even more and scratched one of the hands, that had lifted him up, which caused the man to let go of him, so he fell to the ground again. "Damn it, it scratched me again!" one of the men who now stood inside the cell said, grumbling. "Maybe we should show him what it feels like." another one said. Another thing the Exceed didn't hear. The man, who had tried to pick him up before now, grabbed the felines tail, lifting him up on it. This time he felt the sharp pain and started to struggle, his paws again folding his ears. He couldn't do anything against it, be it being picked up like that, or the pain which was caused by it. When he was held up high and upside down he opened his squeezed shut eyes and looked into the face of a very satisfied looking man. "Well, well, well, what have we here?" the man said, his grin growing even wider. Another clap of thunder made the black cat tense up again, causing the man to grin devilishly. At that moment Lily knew they'd take advantage of this, he just didn't know how.

* * *

The iron dragonslayer sat on the bed in the infirmary, looking out of the window, observing how the storm slowly deceased. He didn't know how long it had stormed outside, in fact he had lost his sense of time. All he knew was, that it took his partner too long for his liking to wake up again. He sighed and lifted his big hand from PantherLilys small head. His round ears adjusted themselves into their normal position.

The mages eyes narrowed at the cat, as if he could force him, to wake up, just by staring at him. He snapped out of this idea, when the door was opened. He hadn't heard the footsteps, but when he caught the familiar scent of the sky dragonslayer he knew why. The small girl weighed nothing at the most, so she couldn't make much noise when she walked.

Wendy, as always accompanied by the white cat, gave Gajeel a warm smile and walked over to a closet, where she got some new bandages. The white Exceed had turned directly to the bed Lily still lay on, and floated over. Her brown eyes gazed over the dragonslayer and then to the black cat on the bed. She still couldn't believe, that it was Lily who lay in there. She still saw him as an older brother, a kind of role model. He had always been the strong one. He had always been the one to protect her and Happy, or others who couldn't fight for themselves. And now he was the one who needed to be protected, which was obviously the moment Gajeel had brought him back severely wounded. Charle landed on the backrest of the chair, right beside the bed. Gajeel still sat on the mattress beside his partner, until Wendy came over, placing bandages and gauze on the blanket and walked back to get a bowl of water. The iron mage got to his feet and stood beside the bed, closely watching what the small girl did. Not to learn how to do it, he could change bandages very well, regarding how many times he had done it at himself or his partner, he watched just to make sure she didn't hurt the black Exceed. Although he knew she wouldn't hurt him, she was a healer, a supporter, she was a professional.

The petite dragonslayer removed the bandages on PantherLilys arms, revealing the still blood stained black fur, it was clotted with the already dried fluid, carefully Wendy took a wash cloth and started to clean the wounds and the fur. He turned around, gritting his teeth loudly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He didn't look at her, or Charle or his partner, when he spoke. Even though his voice was low, Wendy tensed up at it. His voice was full of concern, and guilt. He didn't want to face the possibility of his partner dying, but he had to and he knew it. "Will..." he stopped, realising what he was about to say. "...he make it?" he asked silently. It was the first time he was concerned about the life of somebody since a long time. Worried that the small cat didn't make it, that he'll lose his partner, his best friend. Kurogane Gajeel, stood with his back to the bed his partner lay in, not being able to stand the sight of the small cats injuries and the blood stained bandages, that were to be changed.

The sky maiden was silent for a moment, looking in concern at the black Exceed, his injuries and his state before she replied. She wanted to give him hope, at least a little bit. She couldn't stand people being sad, and Gajeel seemed to have a literal breakdown because of his partner. But she couldn't lie to him either. The small bluenette thought for a moment, thinking over the possibilities. It seemed to make the raven haired man impatient, because he started to tap his foot, she was able to hear him gritting his teeth again. She raised her voice some. Trying to comfort him, and Charle and herself.

"If he wakes up..." she said. "...he will."

* * *

Okay, this was really hard! I like writing stuff with Lily and thunderstorms normally, because he is so cute then, but this... just...

By the way: If you have read carefully, the thunder thing was already foreshadowed, did you see it? Probably not, because it was done bad, and if you don't know it, you wouldn't even recognise that.

So this fanfiction slowly comes to an end, doesn't it? I got two more chapters and an epilogue planned. Look forward to it!

Prepare for friendship feels in the next chapter! It will drown you, and hurt you. So be prepared for it.

Reviews are welcome.


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